There is a misconception that marketing is only about the products, and that a marketer’s number one job is to tell everyone how amazing and innovative those products are.
True… but only to a point.
It is a fallacy because the BEST MARKETING has much more to do with the customers that will be buying those products.
At Avocet, our years of experience working with startups, innovators, disruptors, and visionaries, has taught us that no matter how cool a product or service is, it simply won’t sell itself if it is not backed by thoughtful and brave marketing… marketing that is above all else, customer-centric.
That means focusing on the customers’ need states. A need state is the primary motivator behind a customer’s buying decision. Certainly, our audiences make purchasing decisions based on many different factors – price, convenience, and proximity, for instance. But digging into a customer’s needs – the emotional and psychological motivators and the NEEDS they are trying to satisfy by buying your product or service – is where the real magic of marketing happens. We call this people-first marketing.
People-first marketing is both an approach and a set of marketing strategies that focus on personalizing customer touchpoints across channels to drive engagement and maximize a campaign’s performance. It’s all about PUTTING THE CUSTOMER FIRST AND THE COMPANY SECOND.
A bit counter-intuitive, to be sure, but nonetheless effective and smart. It incorporates a foundation of communication that flows between three key concepts: content, concept, and company.
It also focuses on six key categories within which you need to differentiate your brand in a crowded and noisy marketplace. They are:
- Functionality
- Price
- Convenience
- Reliability
- Performance
- Efficiency
To learn more, tune in to Lori Jones’ thought-provoking Q&A session and see how you can:
- Rise above in the sea of sameness.
- Differentiate your product or service in ways that inspire connection, loyalty and action.
- Position your brand.
